


Dining Room Discussions

by RangerLexi



Series: canon Ethan things (snonk) [1]
Category: snonk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26801815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RangerLexi/pseuds/RangerLexi
Summary: a sampler of important conversations that take place in the dining room of the Kacie manor
Series: canon Ethan things (snonk) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978162
Kudos: 2





	Dining Room Discussions

**Author's Note:**

> hey it's another snonk fanfic about ethan :D

_ Six _

“So, baby, how was school?”

“’S good,” Ethan mumbles through a mouthful of food. 

Alyssa gives him that look that all moms can do. “No talking with your mouth full, remember?”

Ethan swallows. “Sorry. School was good.”

“That’s good,” Alyssa replies, smiling.

On the other side of the table from Alyssa, Christopher clears his throat. “So E, your mother and I wanted to have a talk with you.” 

The smile drops from Alyssa’s face.

“’Bout what?” Ethan asks, not noticing.

Christopher takes a deep breath. “Magic.”

“What’s that?”

“Magic is…” He hesitates and gets up from his seat, coming to crouch down beside Ethan’s chair. “Magic is something that certain bad people use to hurt others.”

“Magic is when people can do things that aren’t technically possible,” Alyssa interrupts, shooting a glare in Christopher’s direction, which he ignores.

“Like what?” Ethan says.

“Like setting things on fire without needing a flint, or controlling peoples’ minds.”

Christopher’s favorite dog, Fox, sniffs Ethan’s leg, and the boy surreptitiously slips him a piece of chicken while pretending to listen intently. His parents pretend not to notice.

“Some people can even bring the dead back to life,” Christopher continues.

Ethan shrugs and takes another bite of his food. “So?”

Alyssa comes over to Ethan’s other side. “What your father is trying to say is that some magic people can be very dangerous, baby.”

“Magic is a danger to society, E,” Christopher emphasizes. “Do you remember when that big fire broke out in the village?”

“Yeah…”

“Someone did that using magic.”

That finally gets Ethan’s attention. “Really? But so many people got hurt…”

“Yes, yes, they did.”

Alyssa starts to say something, but a cough from Christopher cuts her off.

“Now do you see why magic is dangerous?” he asks Ethan.

Ethan nods.

_ Eight _

“Momma,” Ethan begins, hesitantly, as he and Alyssa sit at the dinner table.

“Yes darling?”

“What would you do if… if you thought someone had magic?”

Alyssa sets her utensils down. “Who do you think has magic?”

“It’s not real,” he lies hurriedly. “It’s just… just wondering.”

“I think I would mind my own business.” Alyssa picks up her fork again. “Not all magic is bad, darling.”

“But Dad says we should always tell.”

She chooses her next words carefully. “I think you should do what you think is right.”

Ethan stares at his dinner. Earlier that day, his best friend Jesse told him that he had a new trick. An intrigued Ethan watched as he made a little flower bud in the school garden burst into flower. Jesse made him promise not to tell.

Christopher comes in from outside. “Sorry,” he says, kissing Alyssa on the forehead and ruffling Ethan’s hair as he walks by. “Didn’t realize Capell would want to talk for so long.” He sits down and takes a bite of the meal.

_ Dad says magic is bad, and we should always tell, but… Jesse isn’t dangerous. He would never hurt anyone. _

“So how was your day, E?”

“It was…” Ethan glances at Alyssa. “It was fine, Dad.”

_ Eleven _

“It’s madness, Alyssa!”

“She’s a child, Chris. I  _ know _ that if we help her instead of pushing her away, she won’t--”

“Have you never listened to anything I’ve said about magic?!” Christopher yells, slamming his hands on the table. Ethan covers his ears, but it can’t block out his parents’ shouting.

“It isn’t like you’ve listened to anything  _ I’ve _ said about it!”

Christopher takes a deep breath. “Darling. We cannot just  _ take in _ a random magical child.”

“It isn’t random. It’s Jazz, Christopher.”

“And that’s supposed to make it better how?”

It’s Alyssa’s turn to take a deep breath. “I truly believe that if she has a loving family who doesn’t treat her differently for her magic, she will learn to use it for good.”

“I’m done,” Ethan announces. Both of the adults look at him, snapped out of their argument.

Christopher sighs. “Why don’t you go see if Liam is still outside with Mr. Capell?” he suggests.

Ethan goes, leaving them to their fight.

_ Twelve _

The girl Alyssa had introduced as Ethan’s new sister sits across from him at the table. Alyssa and Christopher have opted to go out to eat, leaving the two alone.

Ethan, tired of the awkward silence, begins the conversation. “So, do you like fencing?”

Jazz looks up from her plate. “I’ve never done it.”

“Well I guess girls don’t really do fencing,” Ethan muses.

“Hey! Girls can do anything boys can do,” she protests.

Ethan grins. “Prove it.”

Jazz returns the grin. “Get me a sword and I will, fencer boy.” They both hop down from the table and race to the front yard as the sun sets, grabbing Ethan’s practice sabres on the way out. He beats her the first few times, but by the time Christopher and Alyssa return, Jazz has scored a point of her own. 

When he sees Jazz hit Ethan, Christopher almost runs across the lawn, but Alyssa stops him. “Just wait,” she breathes.

Ethan recovers from the strike and counterattacks, laughing. 

“See? I told you she’d be fine,” Alyssa tells her husband.

Christopher doesn’t respond, but it’s okay. The family eat together the next day, and the kids can’t stop talking. They’re fine. Jazz is fine. Ethan is happy.

All of them are.

For a while.

_ Twelve part two _

Magic, death, blood in his eye.

_ Twelve part three _

There are three empty spots at the table where people should be. One is a ghost. One is a traitor. One is upstairs in the study. 

Ethan eats alone.

_ Thirteen _

Christopher joins Ethan at the table on Ethan’s birthday. The only time Ethan has called him Dad since Alyssa’s death resulted in a death stare, so he opts for a cautious, “Father?” 

“Yes, Ethan?” Christopher responds, not looking up from the book he brought to the table.

“Jesse has magic.”

Christopher chokes on his food. When he can speak again, he says, “Jesse? Your friend?”

Ethan nods. He still doesn’t think Jesse could hurt anyone, but then, he thought that about Jazz too.

“How do you know?”

“He… I saw him doing it, yesterday,” Ethan lies. “He made a plant grow.”

Christopher tells a butler to retrieve him a scrap of paper. He writes something on it and tells the butler to have it delivered to the chief of police.

“The police will make sure your little friend never hurts anyone like Jazz did, alright?” He smiles at Ethan. “Good job, E.”

The glow of the now-rare praise overpowers the niggling guilt of his broken promise.

_ Eighteen _

“Ha! You did fantastically today kiddo!” Christopher laughs.

Ethan grins, humoring his drunk father. The drunk father in question leans on him hard as they walk into the dining room. He collapses into his chair at the head of the table.

“’S an awful shame you can’t get drunk, E, this occasion calls for it.”

“It’s alright, Dad, I think you drank enough for both of us.”

“But today is a  _ momentous  _ occasion!”

The butler comes in with a bottle of champagne, and Ethan makes a “don’t you dare” gesture at him. It’s too late though; Christopher has already seen him and waves him over. 

“Get juice for Ethan,” he commands. “You can at least have  _ something _ to toast with.” As the butler hurries away, he pops open the champagne and pours himself a glass. 

Momentarily, the butler returns with a champagne glass of orange juice, which Ethan takes.

Christopher raises his glass. “To Ethan, my son, my pride and joy, who killed his first magician today!”

_ Twenty _

“Did I tell you about our latest hunt?” Christopher asks, after a three-course meal and a few drinks. The question is hardly necessary, since he and Lord Everett Courtenay haven’t spoken for a few weeks. 

“My father has hunting stories to last eight dinners,” Ethan murmurs across the table to the young woman sitting there. Her name is Kirstyn, and, provided this dinner goes well, she is to be his wife… apparently.

Kirstyn smiles into her drink as Christopher begins to narrate the tale. “I’d imagine so.”

Encouraged, Ethan continues, “He won’t tell you that he was at the back of most of them.”

She laughs. “My father is the same way, though he’ll readily admit it.”

“...and one of my guards had the audacity to defend her,” Christopher continues. “He’s still in prison, of course.”

“Of course,” Everett says. “Anyone who defends a magician deserves to be there, if only for the sheer stupidity of it. Once they’ve already been found, clearly anyone would be an idiot to associate themselves with it.”

“There is also the small fact that associating oneself with a magic user makes one just as bad as them,” Ethan interjects.

Everett waves his hand dismissively. “Yes, yes, of course there’s that.”

Ethan opens his mouth to say something but a glare from Christopher shuts him up. The conversation moves on.

_ Twenty-one _

It feels like forever since he’s been here. The dining room looks the same as ever, but Ethan is not the same. 

He never will be.


End file.
